"penne opticon" !!! Sir, you win today.

Mike Johnson Has a FISA Fiasco on His Hands - The American Prospect The House Speaker’s surprise five-year extension and bogus warrant provision backfired, but it was enough to get a gaggle of Democrats to break ranks.

Good summary of last night's ultimately failed shenanigans on FISA from @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social. Reform advocates are in the best position they've been maybe ever.

prospect.org/2026/04/17/m...

Update: This bill still sits on the desk of Governor Spanberger.

The deadline for her to take action one way or the other is this MONDAY evening.

It’s going to become increasingly harder and harder for people to separate mass deportation from policing and Mullin and the administration are quite sure there’s no appetite for addressing policing.

"Rest is required to survive. If we do not rest, we die. As such, that cannot be the site of our resistance."
LOVED this whole piece, which had me at "self-care has been commodified by white feminists" 🔥🔥

Bar chart of polling data from Data For Progress. Title: Voters Strongly Oppose Efforts to Cut Medicaid. Description: Would you support or oppose each of the following proposals? Capping the total amount of federal Medicaid funding each state receives — Support: 27%, Oppose: 60% Eliminating Medicaid payments to family members who serve as caregivers for disabled relatives — Support: 22%, Oppose: 67% Eliminating Medicaid-funded home care services for seniors and people with disabilities — Support: 16%, Oppose: 75% April 3–6, 2026 survey of 1,213 U.S. likely voters.

My latest with @dataforporgress.org on Medicaid:

MAGA is trying to redefine core disability services — the things disabled Americans need to live — like home care as fraudulent, in order for even more cuts that will kill us. Voters don't support it.

www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2026/4/...

A 5-Year Update of Conflicts of Interest in Autism Intervention Research in Applied Behavior Analysis Journals - PubMed Researchers' false, incomplete, or missing disclosures of conflicts of interest (COIs) can introduce bias into research, can erode public trust in research findings, and represent ethical violations of most academic journal policies. A 2020 study discovered that publications in applied behavior anal …

“we found that 78% of authors (of studies on ABA) had a conflict of interest (COI)

Some worked in ABA clinics, some offered paid consulting to other ABA providers, and some did both

Almost all papers (93%) had at least one author with these kinds of connections.”

🫠 #AutRes

When Black mothers seek out prenatal care, they first have to ask: Where is going to be safe for me?

Black women are under-represented, under-served, and under-protected in our health care system—and they deserve better.

The National Action Network is speaking up. We must too. #BlackMaternalHealth

Chicago Turns All Public School IDs Into Library Cards To Boost Student Access Chicago Public Library and CPS announced the expansion of The 81 Club, building on a pilot launched in 2022 to give students access to the library system's vast collection and databases.

This is such a good idea. We should do this in NYC.

"All Chicago Public Schools students now have access to nearly everything the city’s libraries have to offer — including physical items like books as well as extensive digital resources."

blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/08/c...

Please join us for a *free* student-led walking tour of the Columbia Ave uprising, which coursed through North Philly in Aug 1964 in response to police violence

April 20th at noon
RSVP and details at link below

Here's a short, succinct alt text description for the image: "Newsweek headline about Donald Trump's statement on redirecting government funds from Medicare and daycare to military spending. Includes a 'Thanks, I hate it' emoji."

A screenshot of a meme features two sections. The top displays text about President Trump discussing states funding care programs with a military focus. The bottom shows a person, appearing unimpressed, alongside the caption, "Very uninterested in that option.

An excited individual pointing and shouting, with a caption quoting President Trump about challenges in handling programs like day care, Medicaid, and Medicare, followed by "THE LIES! THE LIES!" written at the bottom.

This image is an infographic with the headline: "Reminder: this war costs taxpayers $1 billion dollars a day." It highlights that this money could alternatively fund: 160.67 million people receiving SNAP Benefits, 21.85 million people receiving paid parental leave, and 67.92 million adults receiving Medicaid. The bottom reads, "Our public dollars should fund our care." The logo of "Caring Across" is at the bottom.

📢 Our public dollars should fund our care.
www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-us-governme...
#ProtectMedicaid #Breaking

Tapping the sign

Honestly the justices (particularly Justice Sotomayor) sound ... somewhat taken aback that they're even hearing this case.

And ... same?

Also - you didn't have to! You could have just issued a summary op saying "See the Fourteenth Amendment"! Even last year in the nationwide inujunction case!

Death-defying stubbornness is how we survive.

Just like he closed mental health centers and public schools across Chicago. Without mercy.

He also apparently just sent $1 billion to of Dept. of State funds to the "Board of Peace"

I mean why /just/ embezzle funds when you could make it art! :P

This was a while ago heh but could be a grandkid perhaps :P

Could be. Its Delco. Our superintendent was arrested once for embezzling funds in the form of Japanese artifacts sooooo

Home care wasn't ready for the climate crisis—even before Trump's Medicaid and FEMA cuts As extreme weather mounts, disaster relief for millions of people is being systemically gutted.

I looked into if Medicaid-funded providers who oversee disabled people living independently are ready for worsening climate events. The support they need from the federal government isn’t there, and it’s worsened under Trump. My latest for @motherjones.com.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The gen AI Kool-Aid tastes like eugenics Ghost in the Machine director Valerie Veatch wants you to understand gen AI’s roots in race science.

“What was really surprising to me during my initial dive into all of this was how, when you look at the question of superintelligence as a documentarian or journalist, it doesn’t take long before you smack your forehead into the low doorframe of race science, because it’s baked into this technology”

A woman sits indoors in a conversation setting, leaning forward with her hand on her chin, listening attentively to another person who is blurred in the foreground. Overlaid text reads: “People experiencing a mental health crisis deserve care, not force or coercion.” Below, smaller text reads: “A new report examines non-police mental health crisis response programs across the U.S., and highlights what rights-based care can look like.” At the bottom, text reads: “Coming March 30,” alongside logos for Human Rights Watch, NYLPI (Justice Through Community Power), and the Center for Racial and Disability Justice.

People experiencing a mental health crisis deserve care, not coercion.

A new report by @hrw.org, @crdjustice.bsky.social, & @nylpi.bsky.social examines non-police crisis response across the US, identifying key components of rights-based, community-rooted care.

Out March 30. More in thread. [1/8]

This.

The Freedom House report “Freedom in the World 2026” has just been published, and its findings will surprise no one. freedomhouse.org/sites/defaul...

John Lewis photobombs ICE from the grave.

There is a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech. Fuck Peter Singer.

How and Why Philanthropies Should Consider Lived Experience in Their Grantmaking We spoke with a dozen thought leaders in the criminal legal space—including researchers, nonprofit leaders, and direct service providers—about how to conside…

Evidence shows that lived experience can bring smarter #solutions to reform.

In this Urban Wire article, #research experts reflect on lessons learned from their work exploring how #philanthropies can consider lived experience as part of their grantmaking practices.

Transcription for Racial Justice Panel, Tuesday 24 March 2026 How can transcription and closed caption services serve and support the goal of achieving racial justice?

If transcription helps turn raw data into recognised knowledge, then it also plays a role in shaping what gets heard, believed, and remembered.

So how might it reinforce or resist racial injustice?

Join us on Tues 24 March for our first panel exploring these questions and more:

The Heritage Foundation's New Policy Guidebook Wants to Push Women Out of Public Life Heritage Foundation ties declining birthrates to women’s independence, proposes policies to steer them back toward early marriage and motherhood.

The Heritage Foundation's New Policy Guidebook Wants to Push Women Out of Public Life

This is absolutely bonkers and infuriating.

Must-read reporting by ProPublica.